St Malo deer await their fate

Members of the St Malo and District Wildlife Association say they remain committed to getting St Malo’s iconic deer statues back up and out into the community, but that the final decision of what happens with the statues is out of their control and will ultimately sit with De Salaberry council.

Back in September De Salaberry announced they had purchased the former Esso property in St Malo often referred to as Parc Esso, after working to acquire the property for more than a year.

The RM is now in the process of deciding what to do with the property, and a public meeting held in St Malo gave residents a chance to have their say on what they would like to see on the property.

Throughout the meeting the idea of resurrecting the deer statues on the property came up on multiple occasions.

The statues stood in the community for approximately 25 years before being removed three years ago.

De Salaberry reeve Marc Marion said he supports the idea of getting the statues back out into the community, but added council has not yet committed to any plans for the purchased lot.

"That’s the goal of the meeting here tonight," Marion said. "We want to get some feedback and make sure what we do here is a representation of the taxpayers.

"There was a lot of controversy when the statues were taken down and it’s still a question of where they could be located. They have been associated with St Malo for a long time and it would be nice to see them again, but we don’t want to rule anything out."

Marion also said he understands that getting the statues onto the property is a priority for the local wildlife association.

St Malo and District Wildlife Association treasurer Bruno Hebert said the meeting proved how much interest there is in getting the statues onto the property.

"It looks fairly unanimous that the town wants the deer monument up on that parcel but no decision has been made," Hebert said after the meeting. "The decision remains on council. Our position remains the same that we would like to see the statues relocated at that site."

Other ideas for the site that came up included a children’s park, public washrooms, space for food trucks, winter warming huts, and a shopping centre.